Wednesday, December 5, 2018

Majority of Low-Income Texas Women Who Just Delivered a Baby Don't Get Their Preferred Choice of Contraception

Two-thirds of low-income women in Texas who recently delivered a baby aren't getting their preferred method of contraception, according to a new study.

The report by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project (TxPEP) found that the majority of poor women didn't receive the type of contraception they wanted at their initial six-week postpartum visit, putting them at increased risk for unintended pregnancy.

Just 8 percent of the women left their "six-week checkup" with a less-preferred type of contraception, and more than half (58 percent) with none at all.

“The most effective method to prevent pregnancy is the method the woman wants to be using and will continue to use,” said Kate Coleman-Minahan, lead author of the TxPEP study.

Coleman-Minahan recommended expanding Medicaid's pregnancy contraception coverage to at least six months for all women, including immigrants, to remedy the problem. Women in the study said clinic- and provider-level barriers stood in the way of them getting the contraception they wanted.

Women who wanted to use an intrauterine device (IUD) or the contraceptive implant faced the greatest trouble accessing what they wanted, according to TxPEP. Only 10 percent who wanted those methods got them at their first postpartum visit.